Food banks are now an established feature our society.  Two hundred years ago the scenario was somewhat different. There were no food banks in the current sense of the word. The church, various charities and the poor law partially plugged the gap, but the vast population went hungry. The situation was particularly serious for staple food such as wheat and barley: not only for the labourer but for the artisans and industrial workers.

The end of the Napoleonic Wars saw the return of peace to the country. England had prospered economically during the 18^th Century and this trend had continued during the wars from 1793 to 1815. Both manufacturing and agriculture grew and agricultural prices increased substantially. Nevertheless there was a shortage of food and particularly corn.

Although during the 18^th Century wages for the working classes increased, such increases were insufficient to keep pace with the rising cost of food, particularly during the 1790s. Several bad harvests occurred. In 1815 (noted as the year without ‘summer’) the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia caused worldwide famine  a reduction in crop yields. Wheat which cost 48 shillings a quarter in 1760 had reached a record 113 shillings in 1800. Between 1790 and 1795 the cost of living doubled and by 1800 doubled again. Inflation, greater demand and wartime conditions also contributed. Although the enclosure of the commons and wastes provided more land for the growing of food for the agricultural population, the loss of the commons reduced the ability of individuals to grow food and to keep livestock. Strict enforcement of the poaching laws also denied the rural poor of a source of food.

The high cost of food, particularly corn, was caused partly by the corn laws. Since the second half of the 16th Century the State interfered with the price of corn and passed laws to prevent speculation in corn. In the first half of the 17th Century it introduced import and export controls on the food. The controls were imposed for the benefit of the landowners and farmers to ensure that prices were maintained at a high level. In 1773 a law was passed which prescribed that the import of foreign corn was to be prohibited until the price reached 48 shillings a bushel. This price was not reached thus preserving the import ban until 1815 when foreign grain flooded in from the continent and America. The result was the inundation of the market and the financial ruin of the landowners and farmers.

To protect home producers in 1815 the government passed a law prohibiting the import of corn until the price reached 80 shillings a bushel.  This law plus the worldwide famine caused a severe shortage of corn and led to social unrest in the form of riots in various towns including London, Littleport, Cambridgeshire and Bridport.

The riot in Bridport took place on the 29th April 1816. The actual number of people who took part is not recorded- but according to one source 2000 were involved. The targets of the rioters were the millers and the bakers of the town who in those days had a reputation for greed and dishonesty! The riot was eventually quashed by the efforts of the leading residents who succeeded in locking up the rioters in prison. The riot was led by John Toleman. He was arrested charged and convicted along with William Fry, James Stodgell, Jacob Powell, Hannah Powell, Suzan Saunders, Elizabeth Phillips, and Samuel Follett.

They were all tried at Dorchester Magistrates Court. The offences included (in the wording of the indictment):

1. Breaking into the cellars of Gundry and Co (presumably of Palmers Brewery which was then owned be the Gundry family)
2. Breaking the window of John Thomas Baker in East Street
3. Gestures and language instigating the people to tumult by carrying a loaf of bread fixed to a staff through the streets
4. Attempting to rescue a ringleader of the mob
5. Attempting to assault Robert Turner who was acting as a special Constable in suppressing an unlawful assembly
6. Threatening William Diment, baker, and using threatening language to the same in these words to wit ‘we’ll have your liver and lights before night’
7. Breaking the windows of the dwelling house and shop of John Fowler, baker

The eight defendants were convicted variously by the following magistrates: Charles Strickland Mayor of Dorchester, The Rev Houston Hartwell, Samuel Grundy and Griffith Lloyd. Each defendant was fined one shilling and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment William Fry was awarded hard labour. The ringleader escaped that punishment!

The Corn Laws continued to be the subject of political debate.  in 1838 the Anti-Corn Law League was formed, and pressure to repeal the laws mounted fanned by the Whig Party and opposed by the Tory Party and in 1848 the Commons passed the law for repeal with a majority of 98 and by the Lords  with the persuasion of The Duke of Wellington with a majority of 4. The repeal was led by the Tory prime minister Sir Robert Peel supported by the Whigs and a portion of the Tories thus splitting the Tory party and putting them out of government for several years thereafter.

Brian Parker- Volunteer

(adapted from an article original published in The Bridport Times)

All of the information included in this article is correct to the best of our knowledge. However, if you believe anything is incorrect, or would like to submit further information, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.